Reflected in his eyes
by WayfaringStranger
Summary: Aki has become obsessed with the idea of being whisked away from her mundane life and living in the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho. Though she has always wished for change, she may not be able to deal with the new problems she will face.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fan fic, I hope you enjoy it. Please let me know what you think by leaving a review, thank you for looking it over.

Aki

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own Fushig Yuugi, Watase Yuu does.

I do own Aki, Sen and all the other characters I make up.

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"_I could see it," _A female voice stated softly, the revelation coming out slowly but certain. The statement was barely audible, but it held such strength. Though the words were so simple, all the sadness of the world were contained in them._ "In his eyes, my own beauty reflected…"_

The blaring beeps of an alarm clock continued to sing on, it had been doing this for the past ten minutes. From her bed a groggy girl turned over, flopping lazily onto her side, facing the opposite direction of the clock.

_Five more minutes…_

But she would not be afforded this wish, as most wishes do go un granted. From the bunk bed above, her agitated room mate gave off a grunt, it was always the same thing, every morning. The girl who owned the alarm quickly bolted upright, tearing the sheets off of her and tripping over to the clock, finally stopping its ungodly noise. She gave a quick look back to her room mate who gave a soft sigh of relief and settled back to sleep.

The girl soon made her start on her morning ritual, getting ready for the day ahead. Papers were sprawled over her desk along with books and writing utensils, it was obvious she was a college student, Freshman to be exact. This was the first time she had been away from her over protecting family, and she was glad. She was free to do what she wanted, when she wanted. Well, at least she had been content, at the start.

She grabbed her things and went on her way, rich brown hair nearing her waist, wavy but tame, swaying from side to side as she walked towards her door. She gave one last look around, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything, and with a frown she closed the door.

_Everyday, it's the same routine…why can't life hold a few surprises every now and then? _

But she didn't just want a few surprises, she wanted something to change her life, for the better. The nineteen year old girl made her way through the campus, she had a very early class so it wasn't as crowded as it would be in the oncoming hours. She shouldered her bag and continued with her rapid pace, keeping her light brown eyes glued to the ground in front of her. She would mutter an "excuse me" or "sorry" every once and again, whenever she accidentally bumped into another student, but that was all that was said. She was a very solitary person… or so it would seem. In truth she did enjoy being social, if given the chance, but seldom did that occur.

"Morning, Aki." Was muttered as another person maneuvered herself to walk next to the girl.

"Good morning, Sen!" Aki's lively voice called out as she brightly grinned over to her friend. "Sleep well?" And the conversation continued until they reached a large brick building, a large crowd of students already waiting outside of the metal double doors for class to begin.

Aki gave her surroundings a quick glance, noticing the familiar faces and topics of discussion, it was as if this scene repeated every day, and would, for the rest of her life.

_Nothing ever changes…_

A flood of students poured out of the lecture hall, ready for their next class or perhaps done for the day. Aki and Sen walked together, discussing their new assignment. They made their way down a paved path, towards the main center of the campus to grab lunch. Time sure did move quickly, even if it always seemed to flow in the same order.

"I was thinking, want to go do something when you're done?" Sen asked her friend, black gaze watching a pair of students that had decided to display their perfect love. She rolled her eyes as they walked by them, disgusted by the whole affair. Aki, on the other hand, gave them a longing look, though she was careful to hide it from Sen. "Um, sure, what do you want to do?"

"I'm almost out of food for the week so I thought it'd be smart to get some groceries." Sen gave a shrug of her shoulders as she quickly ascended a few steps, they soon turned a corner and entered a large food court. "Nothing special, but, one must eat."

"Yeah… well I guess I'll go." Sure she didn't really have to buy anything, but she might as well keep her friend company. And soon it was their turn to order their food.

**XXX**

The day passed as every other and Aki soon found herself in the grocery store, loading up her cart with a variety of things. She suddenly came across something that made her giggle. "Look!" And she tugged at her friends sleeve, pointing to a baby. "Doesn't he look like Boushin-sama?" She asked happily, her face holding the largest smile possible. But Sen simply nodded her agreement and then promptly turned her attention back to which cereal she wanted to try.

Aki gave her friend a long look, forehead creasing as a frown replaced her smile. Sen had been the one that always gushed over anything that had to deal with Fushigi Yuugi. But as of late, she seemed to have stopped caring as much.

_She probably grew out of it._

Aki let out a sigh, gaze still on her friend.

_Maybe it's time I gave up believing too._

Sen felt something odd, as if she was being watched, she slowly turned her eyes and found Aki with an odd look on her face. "Is something wrong?" She asked, a bit un nerved.

It didn't take long for Aki to snap out of her daze, she straightened up and gave a firm nod of her head. "Y-yes!" She let out, startled cry not too shrill, but loud enough so that the man standing a few feet from her gave a small jump. Sen continued to observe her friend, the look on her face showing she didn't believe her. "Really, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something I had to do for class." And she waved it off, giggling a bit as if to prove she was all right.

Aki ended up going over to Sen's dorm room, spending a decent portion watching movies and talking about random things instead of studying, like most friends do. She was having such a good time away from her room and assignments that she didn't realize how late it had become.

"Oh no, it's nearly midnight!" Aki cried out as she leaped from her spot on Sen's bed. She gave a frantic look around, gathering her bag and the few things she had bought at the store.

"Do you want me to walk you out?" Sen asked as she watched her friends antics, Aki was always good for a laugh.

"No, it's okay." She knew that Sen didn't really want to walk her out, she was just being polite. She hated bothering her friend, so she was off without much more delay.

She made her way through the deserted campus, shouldering her book bag that kept slipping on her bare shoulders. Her keen gaze searched every corner, ready for an attacker. She had walked home at night before, but never this late. Not too far off the bells in a steeple tolled, telling that a new day had begun. "Great, it's midnight." The girl muttered as she continued on her way.

She was getting ready to cross a street, looking both ways like a good girl, when something caught her eye. She had been looking up towards the full moon, admiring its beauty for a brief moment, when something passed by it. "A bird?" She questioned as she halted in her tracks, mesmerized for some reason. She continued to watch it as it sailed gracefully through the night sky, it's body aflame with a luminous scarlet light. She loosened her grip and her grocery bags soon fell to the ground, her attention completely caught by the creature as she set off to follow it. She didn't look ahead of her, no, she simply continued to watch the bird, eyes glued to it. Aki didn't even realize that she was picking up speed, jogging after it and soon she was running. She never stopped to think, never stopped to look at what was coming until she tripped and fell towards the earth.

A yelp went out as her arm scraped against the dirt, snagging on a few sharp rocks here and there. She shook her head, trying to bring herself out of the dreamlike state she had been in.

_That's what happens when you start to make things to be what they're not. _She mentally scolded, lifting herself off the ground. _Great, now I wandered off and got lost… _She quickly turned around, unsure of where to go, nothing looked the same.

She debated calling out for help, but was worried that the wrong set of ears would catch the message. Instead she grabbed her book bag and began to make her way towards a 'path' that looked promising. The girl parted the brush as best she could, getting smacked in the face by a few branches, adding to her collection of scrapes. "Finally!" She let out as she finally made it past the debris and into a clearing, exhausted by her efforts. She gave a bright smile, pleased that she had triumphed and made it out of the woods, but the joy she felt soon faded.

Before her lay land, un touched by the hand of man. No streets, lamp posts and buildings were seen as far as her gaze reached.

"Where am I?"

Aki continued to wander for the rest of the night, searching for something she recognized. Soon the sun was rising and she could no longer continue to walk. She leaned her back against a large tree, setting her bag next to her. Her eyes began to water slightly, she had never gotten this lost before, anxious and confused. She fought to stay awake, afraid that if she dozed off she would never awaken again, but she had little control over this, her body could not stay alert any longer.

**XXX**

"Not another one, why do we always find the odd ones?" A gruff voice dimly resounded inside of Aki's pounding head, everything was dark. "Do we have ta take her in?"

"It's not right to leave her like this, no da. She's just a girl, na no da."

_That voice… _

She willed her eyes to open, the morning light greeting her and causing her to wince, she hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep. Soon she was searching for the owners of the voices and found two men with their backs to her, slightly to the side of where she was facing. One sported reddish wild locks while the other had golden brown, his head shaved except for a thin rat tail that was tied with a simple band. The man with the red hair wore a long black coat while the other wore Asian looking garb, leggings and all.

_Wait, what? No, this can't be, it's just a dream… yah, that's right, just a dream. _

And she smiled to herself, glad she had talked some since into that brain of hers, but when they turned around her smile faded and a look of bewilderment appeared.

Tasuki and Chichiri, two of the Suzaku Sichiseishi, were staring right back at her.


	2. Chapter 2

I suppose I should make the setting for this story clear, it takes place after the OVA's. Sorry I didn't mention that in the first chapter. Thanks to all those that left reviews, I would love to hear some more of your thoughts about my little story so please continue to post your comments.

Aki

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own Fushig Yuugi, Watase Yuu does.

I own Aki and all the other characters I make up.

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"Uh." And that was the only sound she was able to produce. Aki sat dumfounded as her large eyes took in the two men She knew them instantly, there was no doubt in her mind that they were from two of the main characters from the anime series she had so dearly loved. But wait, anime, she wasn't from an anime and yet she was interacting with those that were? What had she gotten herself into?

Chichiri simply gawked, she didn't look anything like a village girl, what with her hip hugging blue jeans, low cut tank top and her sneakers. Though she was a very odd sight to see, she did have some of the aspects of their miko, an otherworldly aura about her. "Um, are you alright?" Yes, that would be the wise thing to ask. Though his lips moved, his eyes did not, still staying on her. His masked face displayed a frown as he tried to comprehend the situation at hand.

But Aki didn't produce any other sounds for them, she simply sat there, bag clutched in one hand as if she was ready to flee. She had to be hallucinating, these weren't Seishi, they were really drunk frat boys that were trying to take advantage of her now that she had gone over the edge.

_Don't move closer, I'll scream! _She mentally warned them, backing closer to the tree trunk behind her. Her eyes still displaying her confusion.

It seemed that her body language made it through to the men, seeing as how they both took steps back, slowly, not wanting to frightening the girl any more then they already had.

"What are ya doin' by yerself? Little girls shouldn't stray far from the village," And Tasuki gave a quick look around, as if something were about to pop out and prove why she should stay close to large populations. His nose was wrinkled, as if he was sniffing the air. "Yer lucky we found ya, could've been slave traders… or worse."

Aki was about to say something, what it was shall never be known since the rustling of brush caught the attention of three present. Soon enough a group of five men emerged, two on horse back, while the others were walking in front. It didn't take long for them to spot Seishi and girl. A moment passed where silence sank between the two groups, each watching the other without really knowing what to make of the situation. But soon enough the men decided it was an opportunity to rob the travelers of whatever they had, and to make off with the girl for the nights entertainment. A large man, standing around six feet, dropped a sack he had been carrying over his shoulder, giving a sinister grin as he made his way towards Aki and the Seishi, his comrades soon followed. It seemed that they had already gotten an early start on their robbing travelers.

It didn't take long for Aki to make it to her feet. She quickly slung her bag over her shoulders, ready to flee when her instincts warned her the man had gotten close enough. _Good thing I'm wearing my running shoes… _And also a good thing that she had been part of the track team in high school.

"It will be safer if you stay behind us, no da." The monk informed the girl, he had read her intentions of fleeing and feared that she would get lost if she did so. It was obvious she wasn't from the area and well, with thieves lurking in the forest it was best for her to stay with them.

But as soon as one of the men lunged towards Tasuki, Aki was off. She leaped from the scene, feet barely touching the ground as she made her way from the escalating fight. Her eyes had failed to see that on the plains there was a small village, little cot's dotting the landscape. She made towards it, not looking back for a moment as the wind whipped past her terrified face.

XXX

The Seishi were left to fight off the men on their own, not that the girl would have helped much if she had stayed. Tasuki walked amongst the items the man had been carrying, taking his pick. "Why are ya still worrin' about her? She ain't a baby, she can manage on her own." He stated as he rummaged through a bag filled with jewels, eyes busily examining them and deciding whether they were worth taking or not.

"She's not from here, Tasuki." The other Seishi said yet again, his eyes were focused on where the girl had fled towards. "We can't just leave her by herself, na no da." And he turned back to his friend, frowning as he watched him continue to plow through the plunder.

Sensing the intense gaze the bandit stiffened, back still towards the monk. His shoulders slumped as he gave in, "Alright, we'll go find her… happy?" And he pocketed a few of the items before hastily standing to full height. "But she's _yer _responsibility." And he pointed a finger at Chichiri, giving off his best frown as well. He hated babysitting, especially when he had gold to acquire.

Chichiri gave a nod as he turned towards the village, setting out to find the mysterious girl. He had no idea why she was here, seeing as how she couldn't possibly be a miko. He pondered this throughout the walk, his mind finally focusing on searching for the girl rather then wondering why she was here. _We'll find out soon enough, she might have an idea as to why she was brought her…_

The Seishi walked through the crowded alley ways, searching for the girl, knowing she'd stick out like a sore thumb. No one that they questioned seemed to know of her, causing the men, Tasuki mostly, to grow irritated. "If we don't find her in the next round," And he gave off a huff, not having to finish his sentence for his friend to realize what he meant.

"Maybe she didn't go into the village, no da." Chichiri stated after giving off a frustrated sigh, his masked face turning to each and every direction. Perhaps she had wandered off to another area?

But soon his eyes caught sight of something. An elderly woman stood in a door way, leaning to one side as she eyed the pair. She was dressed rather shabbily, and held a rather amused grin on her wrinkled face. "You boys lookin' for a foreign girl?" She questioned when they were in speaking distance. They both eyed the old woman warily, wondering how she had figured that out. "Oh come now, I've been watching you boys walking about for the past half hour, asking questions to some of the vendors." And her smirk grew to a sort of repulsive look of annoyance. "Any fool could tell what you were up to."

"Alright then, tell us where she is!" Tasuki yelled out, aggravated at her attitude. Who did this old bag think she was talking to him like that? He crossed his arms as he waited for a reply, amber eyes set on her dull brown.

The old woman simply nodded her head, moving to a side so that the entrance was no longer blocked. After waiting a minute she swept a hand, indicating that they should enter. "Well come on then, I ain't gettin' any younger!" And she entered herself, assuming they'd follow in time.

XXX

Aki had run all the way to the village, not stopping for a moment. Once she had reached the gate she halted to catch her breath. It had been a while since she had run that long, and never under those conditions. She swept a few strands of hair back with a hand, still breathing rapidly from the run. After a few minutes she gave the area a quick look around and then headed towards the interior of the village.

She tried not to be seen by many, knowing that she was an odd sight to see. She quietly stuck to the shadows and back alleys, ready to run at the slightest hint of danger. Her attention was soon caught by the sounds of the market, people shouting and bartering while they shopped. It was certainly unlike anything this girl had ever seen and she examined the scene intently, watching as the native people, clad in garments so very different from hers, went about their daily life.

She didn't realize that someone had been watching her just as intently, standing just a few feet behind her. Soon a hand joined with her shoulder, causing Aki to spin around, letting out a startled cry. But when she caught sight of who it was that had grabbed her she ceased the shout and simply stared.

"Well are ya just gonna gawk at me all day?" The old woman scolded, taking her hand off the girl and waving it in the air as if swatting away a fly. "If ya want to hide ya shouldn't stand in alley ways, not good for pretty girls like you." And she flashed her a toothy grin, making her seem even more deranged.

"Um, thank you?" Aki stated as she continued to stare, unsure of what to do. She nervously shifted her feet, lowering her gaze a bit towards the ground.

"You certainly are an odd one…" The woman stated as she eyed her over, taking in her foreign clothes and appearance. She seemed to be debating something, but soon enough she came to a conclusion. "Well come on then, I've something for you to do while we figure you out." And she set off down the alley, Aki quickly following her. She didn't know why, but she trusted her, besides she was a elderly person, what could she possibly do to her?

XXX

The Seishi walked into a rather small inn. There were various round tables with wooden chairs set around them and a large open space near a long desk which probably served as the reception area. Further to the left was a makeshift bar with a few patrons already being served. Chichiri scanned the room for any sign of the girl they had been pursuing, forehead furrowed as he did so. Finally he came across sight of her bag, it had been placed on an empty stool near the reception desk. Soon enough the girl herself was spotted, standing in a corner with a rather insecure look on her face. She scanned the room, eyes watching the men, wary of their every action.

"See, I told ya I knew where she was!" And the elderly woman gave Tasuki a swat on the arm as she walked towards Aki, laughing all the while. "I found her out in an alley, figured she'd get in trouble and that it'd be best for me to take her in." She soon stopped next to the topic of discussion, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her a firm shake. "If ya ever need help, and are in town, just give me a holler!" And with a wink, their interaction ceased and the woman hobbled off to do some work.

As soon as she was out of sight the men turned their attention back to Aki, giving her yet another confused look. Tasuki simply scratched his head, wondering what new trails awaited them because of her presence. Girls from other worlds _always_ meant trouble.

"Why did you flee, no da?" The monk was the first to speak up. He had been debating what he should ask her first, not wanting to scare her away again. This seemed like a relatively safe thing to ask, besides, it would help prevent causing her to run away in the future, hopefully.

Aki simply stood still and silent, as if this would help her become invisible. But soon the seconds turned to minutes and she had left the question unanswered, the men were still there so she might as well let them know. "I was scared." Such a simple answer, and it was stated with such a soft voice while she kept her gaze on her shoes.

Chichiri was about to say something, thinking that she was through, but before he could Aki had raised her gaze and her voice as well. "I'm not from here, I don't know how I got here. One moment I was on my campus and the next I was in the woods." Her exasperated explanation was sent rapidly out, eyes pleading with the pair. "Is there anything you can do for me? I mean, do you know how I can get back?" And she watched the two, eyes mostly on Chichiri since he seemed the most amiable of the two.

The monk frowned as he thought of a solution to the problem, not one that directly would resolve it, but a place to start at least. He finally came out of his meditation, looking back at the girl that waited with bated breath. "I do not know what to do, no da."

Aki's hopeful eyes lost their sparkle, they became dull as the words hit her. She would never find her way home. Sure she was among two men that she had been adoring for the past few weeks, one more then the other, but still she knew where her place was. She had lost her friends and family, she was not ready to trade over those things for a man that would never love her in the same fashion she loved him.

"Oi, what about that old hag?" Tasuki's gruff voice broke the silence that had fallen between them. He had stated that the girl was the monk's responsibility but he felt bad for her. That look she had on her face could break ones heart, and he was very kindhearted in reality.

"Ah yes, did I not say that Taiitsukun might be of some help?" Chichiri appeared a bit puzzled, the other two present giving him an odd look. He sheepishly realized he had not and sent a hand to scratch his neck. "Sorry about that, seems I got a bit lost in thought, na no da."


End file.
